Government by the People Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, last week, mailman Doug Hughes flew a gyrocopter onto the Capitol lawn to make a point about the influence of money in politics. While I don't condone violating restricted airspace and putting innocent people at risk by flying a gyrocopter onto the Capitol lawn, Mr. Hughes does have a point about the pervasive influence of money in politics. I have seen it get worse and worse during my 20 years in Congress.

The Citizens United decision by the United States Supreme Court in 2010 created super-PACs and multi-millionaires who buy candidates. As of April 8, 2015, there were 1,360 super-PACs in existence that controlled nearly $700 million in the 2014 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets.org. The American people have lost confidence in the House and in the Senate partially because super-PACs influence candidates and politicians.

Too many times I have seen bills come to the floor of the House that seem influenced by money. Just last week, the House voted on H.R. 650, the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act of 2015, which does nothing but line the pockets of Warren Buffett by enabling his near-monopoly of the mobile home industry to strap poor people with higher interest rates while his companies are being protected from government regulations against predatory lending.

It is my disgust at this influence of money in politics that has led me to be a cosponsor of H.R. 20, the Government by the People Act, introduced by my colleague Congressman John Sarbanes. H.R. 20 would curb the influence of super-PACs so that small donors can have a voice again.

We in Congress owe the American people a vote on this bill so we can inspire confidence in our democratic process. House leadership should bring this bill to the floor, but I know it won't happen. There isn't the stomach for reform bills in this Congress, even for bipartisan reform bills. Maybe it does take a statement like Mr. Hughes' to bring this issue into the national debate and to make Congress address our out-of-control fund-raising.

I ask my colleagues in both parties in the House of Representatives to look seriously at the John Sarbanes bill, because the Government by the People Act will help to restore the confidence of the American people. We cannot stop what is already public law, and we cannot change Citizens United unless we go back through the legal process, but we can have an alternative. That is what the John Sarbanes bill does, so I hope Republicans and Democrats will look seriously at becoming cosponsors.

I ask God to bless America.

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